


It's A Wonderful Life

by MazalHaMidbar



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28098501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MazalHaMidbar/pseuds/MazalHaMidbar
Summary: Just as things seem to be at their most hopeless for Cas and Dean, help arrives from an unexpected source.You may look upon this as a Christmas story if you so choose.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Castiel/Meg Masters
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	It's A Wonderful Life

**Author's Note:**

> This re-writes the conclusion to the Season 15 Episode 18 “Despair” including my headcanon that The Shadow from The Empty looks just like the late demon Meg for the simple reason that it IS Meg.
> 
> This story might make more sense if you have seen the famous 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It could also help to know Genesis 22 in the Old Testament.

The Shadow stirred reluctantly. Being awake is a bitch when one prefers slumber. But it was time to take possession of the angel. After all, he had promised her that the instant he achieved total happiness, he would return to her realm, The Empty, and sleep forever.

In the quiet, boring, literal sense of that word, dammit.

She sighed. She and Clarence had come close to hitting the sheets a time or two on Earth when she was in a slutty female meatsuit going by the name of Meg. But they had never been able to find their moment, their pizza paradise, the fun-and-sexy kind of sleeping.

Now perhaps they never would. Dammit.

Being kinda good really did suck, both then and now. But The Shadow was painfully aware she had never been who the little tree-topper truly loved. Dammit.

His happiness had been in confessing . . . no. In admitting . . . no. Those terms imply coming clean on something wrong. Clarence hadn’t been wrong to pledge his love for Dean. His happiness was being aware of the love and stating it. But he had added that he knew he could never have the relationship.

Hell’s bells but angels could be dense! Because there WAS one simple way that he COULD have it.

It would be presented as a deal. It would be plausible. Any agreement with a demon – even a former demon – was a deal. She would have to see if it was one that Clarence aka Castiel aka Cas would be willing to take.

Shaking herself fully awake, she projected herself into the windowless room on Earth where the angel and his beloved were sobbing their tearful goodbyes. Shiny waves of black goo swirled around her, but with some effort she made herself look as she had years ago so that they both would recognize her . . . which meant finally ditching that godawful bleach job in favor of her previous brunette locks.

By that time, Dean was crying even more than the angel was. “Cas, do you have to go? I wish we had more time. Maybe you could have what you really want. Maybe we both could.”

She walked over and stood square between them: the man a having a major chick-flick moment and his Heavenly object of affection. “Silly human. The angel doesn’t have any more time – unless he wants to make the deal of the millennium.”

“Meg. The Shadow. Your Emptiness. I thought I smelled the skank,” Dean said, snapping back to his usual snark. “Can you even make deals? You never were a crossroads demon even when you were a demon. And just how did a demon as low-life as you get the big promotion, anyway?”

“That’s Ms. Shadow to you. And show some gratitude. I’m actually trying to help you both.”

“How can a Hellbitch help either one of us?”

“Boy, shut that smart mouth of yours and pay attention for once. I’m the one asking the questions here, starting with this. The feathery one has just declared his love for you – finally, after more than a decade. Do you feel the same way about him?”

Dean took a deep breath, looked at his feet, then at Meg, then at Castiel. “Yes. Always have, 10 years and counting.”

“Clarence, in order for the two of you to be together, I would have to un-ring the bell. Actually, I would have to smash the bell to smithereens. Do you understand?”

“Not at all. Nor have I ever comprehended why you persist in calling me that name.”

“Cas, remember we were supposed to watch that movie at Christmas,” Dean said. “ ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ The trainee angel is named Clarence, and he hasn’t earned his wings yet. Here’s the catchphrase: ‘Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.’ ”

“Sorry, but I am still not following either one of you.”

“OK, fellas, let me try this again. Castiel, I would clip your wings. I would demote you bigtime and for all time. If you’re not an angel, then you can’t go to The Empty. So your promise to me just goes poof. You’ve proven that you were willing to make the sacrifice, like Abraham and Isaac in The Good Book, and that’s enough for me.”

“You're not planning to cut off his head, I hope,” said Dean.

“Um, no. I'm being literary. You're being literal. But the decision here isn’t yours, so you need to be quiet for just a minute, please. Can you do that?”

She continued: “Castiel, do you give up immortality and all your grace to become fully and permanently human, to stay on Earth, and to shack up with this jerk for whatever time you have left, which is probably not much given the apocalyptic situation?”

“I do.”

“Dean, do you still love this clueless soon-to-be-ex-angel even if he were to become an equally clueless near-virgin with absolutely no special powers – no healing, no mind-reading, no super-strength, no angel radio – just another middle-aged man?”

“I do.”

She then led Castiel by the hand to the side of the room.

“Do we – um – have to kiss to make it official?” he asked.

“Yes, we do, especially so I can extract your celestial status once and for all. So, handsome, one last time, throw me up against the wall and suck face with me – and at least pretend that you mean it.”

Dean averted his eyes for what seemed like a lifetime but was actually five minutes.

“I don’t feel any different,” Castiel said.

“Clarence! You wound me! Our first-and-last real make-out session -- and nothing has changed for you?”

“No.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll figure it out eventually.”

She handed Dean his new husband. “Son, you are one lucky loud-mouthed asshole. I suggest that you immediately take this opportunity for a wonderful life together.”

“We will.”

“Well, kids, gotta bounce. Reliable sources say that the universe is ending, which means I’ll soon have a whole lot of folks from both upstairs and downstairs coming in and needing to be put permanently to bed. So I strongly suggest you consummate these ad hoc nuptials right away, while you still can.”

“We will.”


End file.
